Of Gods and Mortals
by Prime627
Summary: Starscream has encountered a situation, and the god he believes in may be the only one to help him overthrow Nemesis Prime once and for all (Shattered Glass-y approach in which Megatron is good and Orion is evil and the Matrix is confused)
1. Chapter 1

Out of all the gods to pray to, no one would expect a Seeker to turn to Vector, the god of time. Normally, Seekers sniffed in the direction of the Thirteen and then looked up to Primus for answers. They didn't have time for the star stories or the myths about how Cybertron came to be, mostly. But one Seeker was spotted repeatedly during and then a little after the war. He was mated to Megatron, but the mech had become recently interested in the Orion's brother Nemesis who had claimed himself to be the bearer of the Matrix. Starscream laid down his gifts on top of the old flowers and box of Energon goodies. They were stale and old, and he shoved them aside.

"Vector," the Seeker whispered, "I have prayed to you for years, and you have never answered my calls. I beg of you, just this once, will you please answer me." He set the jar of Energon down and rested a blossom down on the lid. He rested his servos on his thighs as he knelt on the floor, watching Vector Prime's statue.

It was a dull metal color, showing a mech taking a step forward, an orb in one servo down by his thigh and the other lifted, cupped upward, an hour glass in his palm. His optics were set in and serious and all through Starscream's youth, he had thought the mech was handsome. He watched the statue for several long moments before he lowered his helm and he shook it slowly. "I wasted years of my life believing you were real..."

When his optics lifted again, he glared at the statue. He shoved himself to his pedes and was about to kick his gifts, but a blue light came from the statue's chest, pooling down in front of the Seeker as it slowly crafted a mech taller than Megatron.

"You have wasted nothing," the god stated, offering a soft smile. The side of his mouth quirked and Starscream's spark pulsed a little faster. "How may I help my follower?"

Starscream's wings lowered. "It's Primus. I think he made a mistake. This mech came marching into our warship claiming to be the bearer of the Matrix. Vector, tell me it isn't true."

"How did this mech come across the Matrix?" Vector frowned now and Starscream huffed.

"We sent him and three others to get rid of Dark Energon that was threatening to kill Primus and therefore Cybertron. They came back and the mech had changed, physically and mentally. When Nemesis left, he was happy and always cracking jokes, and when he comes back? Serious, walking evenly, talking in monotone..."

Vector Prime nodded and looked beyond him. "I wonder...if he is actually the Prime Primus intended or if he is just a vessel for the Matrix to rest in its intended chamber..."

Starscream's wings twitched and he played with his claws, looking away. "Vector..."

The mech's attention snapped back to him and he tilted his helm. "There is something more concerning you than the bearer of the Matrix. What else can I help you with, Seeker?"

"Starscream," he offered, looking at him.

"I know." The mech's mouth quirked up again at the corner and the Seeker's vents roared to life to cool his frame.

"I was wondering..."

"Starscream," the god chuckled. He walked toward the window in the back by his statue. He only glanced at his likeness before he gazed up at the stars. "Of all the stories, only three do not follow tradition. Praxus tells of a knight born from a virgin Seer that slays Onyx Prime, and I can tell you now that the story is true. Onyx is very mad indeed at Praxus. And there is Diamente, a femme without creators that became the mate of a King when she impressed him with her gifts of flowers, but was assassinated by him when she would not give her secret of how she grew such beautiful flowers to him. That is why the lilies bloom blue, allegedly. The third is the star Acles, a mech stronger than Nexus who threw light into the dark to make stars. That one is a lie, but we will let believers believe." He turned to him. "But all the others, every single star has one thing in common."

Starscream's optics lifted.

"A god laid down with a mortal," Vector whispered, "and the creation set the world free."

"I was going to ask how we could...end Nemesis' reign..."

"This is how," the mech purred and he pressed the Seeker against the wall. "Our creation, born from me and from a Seeker, can save this world. It will be as Primus intended, for how else could you have come to me at this time, when I desired a mate of my own?" He kissed Starscream lightly, and the Seeker shivered. He hadn't been kissed like he was glass before...

"Vector..." Starscream licked his lower lip delicately with a swipe of his glossa, looking up at Vector. He almost asked for another kiss, but he felt unbearably hot. "Why...?"

"Why? Because only a Prime can carry the Matrix and use it, and since your Nemesis is neither...well..." He ran his servos down Starscream's frame. "We must make...other options."

"And Primus knows of this?"

"Right now he is objecting only lightly."

"What if he objects severely?"

"You would die."

He gulped.

Vector cooed lightly and lowered kiss after kiss down onto his lips, as though savoring each touch of their mouths. Starscream shivered and he felt his legs relax...Vector slipped a servo under his knee, testing, touching, and then under the other knee.

"You are a beautiful thing, Seeker," Vector purred and he nipped at his audio, making Starscream gasp. Vector smirked and the Seeker's cooling fans whirled to life. He blushed even deeper. "I see..."

The god pinned the mortal down on the floor, tasting his mouth again, this time flicking his glossa out across his lips, dipping it into his mouth and running the soft glossa over denta, against the inside of his mouth, over Starscream's glossa...The Seeker shivered and whimpered, his legs falling open around Vector's torso as the god lowered down onto him even further. Servos pressed and questioned, learning him. Starscream found every exterior sensor soon buzzed contentedly. Vector's servos were practiced servos, and he adored them more than his mate's rough claws that left scratches where ever they fell.

Vector kissed him once more, raising himself up slightly by his arms. He peered down at the Seeker, then smiled widely. "Are you ready, my darling Prince?"

Starscream nodded slowly and gasped as his valve was exposed. Vector pressed his digits to his valve lips, rubbed them, spread them, pulled and pinched them lightly, then gave his node a flick. Starscream bucked and whimpered, lubricant leaking out. Vector licked his digits clean, his optics dimming as he apparently found pleasure in the taste, and then he smacked his lips, oral lubricant lightly misting Starscream's abdomen.

"Oh," the Seeker gasped, twitching. He tucked his claws against his chest. "Nngh..."

"Speak, love," Vector whispered. "I want to hear your voice. I never want you to stop talking, not until you can no longer find words."

So Starscream talked. He talked about his life before Megatron and during Megatron while Vector made amused, wondering, and soft sounds between laps at his valve. Starscream would often trail off, especially when Vector's glossa flicked rapidly against his node. The Seeker would squirm and wiggle and arch, his optics closing and dimming lightly. And when Vector would give the node a gentle suck, the Seeker would shout. Then the gentle, lingering licks would return and Starscream could speak again.

It went on like that for a while (Starscream lost track of time) before Vector finally finished with his valve. Three overloads had come and went, leaving the Seeker panting and hot. Now his valve was leaking, waiting to be speared.

Vector rubbed each petal with a digit, purring lightly. "The next question I had intended to ask was 'are you ready', but it seems I already have my answer." He settled over him, notching his hips between his thighs. He ground his panel down against Starscream's valve, then drew back. What prodded Starscream next wasn't unwelcome.

Starscream looked down and brought his claws to his mouth. The spike rubbing against his valve was larger than even Megatron's. He doubted Optimus Prime could match up to such a size and Starscream had a ridiculous doubt that it would fit.

Vector gripped Starscream's hips and drew him towards him, his spike pressing slowly into the Seeker's valve before it was all the way in within moments. His valve quickly stretched to accomadate, every sensor singing as Vector thrusted slowly.

"Breathe, little bird."

Starscream took a large gulp of air and held it, his legs up and bent over his stomach, his heels resting on Vector's hips. The god smiled down at him and kissed his mouth lightly.

"Relax."

He tried to. He honest to Primus tried to. But Vector was huge, and this wasn't like anything he had encountered before. Megatron pounded the life out of him and then cuddled up like a Predacon to fall asleep and snore loudly in Starscream's audio. If Megatron was in Vector's place, they would be half-way done already. Why was Vector taking so much time?

Gradually, though, he quickened his pace. Starscream slid back and forth along the floor with every thrust and his wings fluttered lightly. His legs were now held by Vector, his grip on the back of his thighs just under his knees. His valve felt overly stuffed and about to rip, but the sensors being stimulated kept Starscream in his pleasure.

Vector kissed Starscream again, giving sharper thrusts. When Starscream's valve clenched down around his spike, he felt the length throb and he knew the Prime was close.

"Almost, Seeker," Vector promised when Starscream began making noises of discomfort, began making motions to escape. The sharp thrusts hurt his gestation tank's entrance, the fast pace ground grit and dirt into his seams and against his wings. This wasn't what he was expecting, but he wasn't disappointed that he came here.

Vector grabbed his hips again and thrusted inside once more. Starscream gasped as he felt long spurts of fluid fill his valve and seep steadily into his tank. He clung to Vector and the Prime held onto him, purring lightly into his audio to comfort him.

"Such a good little bird. Brave little bird."

When Vector was done, both god and mortal laid down on the floor, Vector running a light servo over the Seeker's belly. Starscream stared down at it, then rolled into Vector.

"I could make you immortal like me," he whispered. "Solus would help. You would last forever..."

"Our creation...?"

"It's lifespan will be doubled, but it will not last as long as I."

Starscream shook his helm. Though being immortal was appealing, he would outlive his friends, family, his brothers...Megatron... "I can't..."

Vector nodded. "Few mortals are willing to do so...fewer than we expected...the immortal gift has been offered three thousand six hundred and twenty-two times...and only accepted twelve times."

"Mm?"

He chuckled and kissed his audio. "Our thirteenth brother did not want to live forever. Instead, he wanted to be reborn as a mortal, and Primus could not deny him that..."

"Who was it?"

"Who _is_ it, you mean. And if he has not made this piece of information known, then I will not be the one to spill. He probably doesn't even know, which is fine by all of us, if not a little sad. He was a grand little brother..." He smiled and kissed his cheek. "Sleep now. This hybrid of ours will only take a few days time to grow."

"Days?" Starscream stared at the mech. Seekers took four weeks to form, sparklings three months, and sparked sparklings were ready to detach after a month and a week. A sparkling taking mere days to form and get all its parts in order is unheard of.

"Four days."

"What am I to tell Megatron?" Starscream shivered. "If he's not still hovering over Nemesis..."

"That you are carrying a gift. Nothing more. Does he even need to know? Could you deliver the sparkling in secret?"

"Not likely..." He winced. He had so many followers, and his brothers were always on his heels. His friends, too, would hover over him like Insecticons around a kill. "But I will try."

"Mm. You should probably head back then..." Vector kissed his cheek again. "And tell me if you reconsider my offer."

Starscream left the temple and climbed aboard the _Nemesis_ , one servo tapping on his thigh, and the other resting on his so-far flat stomach. As he was greeted merrily back, he wondered if there opinion of him would change if they knew just what he had been doing...


	2. Chapter 2

Starscream, just as he predicted, was swept up by his friends: his brothers and his brother's mates.

"Megatron's been looking for you," Skywarp said. He held his mate, the little mech Vos. "Where have you been?"

Starscream produced the other reason for leaving the _Nemesis_. It was a large purple bear given to the little mech by his caretaker of the DJD, a femme named Nymph who was killed because she was believed to be a thief that snuck into a Prime's office and smuggled away with Dark Energon when in reality she took the fall for the three Princes of Vos the city. Starscream and Skywarp were shocked into silence when her execution aired, followed closely by Alpha Trion's prophesy of war...it was unreal, but it quickly became reality.

"Nymph!" Vos squeaked and grabbed the bear. He pressed his face into it and cuddled into its restored fabric. Skywarp reported that the bear was getting mangled and quickly de-stuffed due to Vos' nightmares. Starscream, knowing that the gift of the bear was the last thing Vos saw of his beloved Nymph, was something that had to be restored as swiftly as possible. Starscream couldn't ask for anything else when he retrieved it from the Stitcher, an elderly femme who ran a shop squashed between a factory and a store. It was perfect, as though Nymph had just plopped it down onto the counter for Starscream to take.

 _Make sure he gets it_ , she insisted. _Make sure he remembers. Tell him, when he asks, that I'm in Burning Treads and I can't come to get him, but some day I'll come back. You tell him that. I'm coming back._ Starscream had told Vos that for years until Vos finally realized that Starscream was lying to him. The sorrow in his optics gave it away after a while. Starscream couldn't continue to be optimistic. No matter what he did, he couldn't believe that she was actually coming back. After all, he had seen her last breath.

"Thanks, Starscream," Skywarp said as he took the bear. Vos purred and nuzzled his face into his neck, his anxiety soothed for now. "It looks like new." He subspaced it.

Perceptor, mated to Thundercracker, shook his servos at the Seekers. "Go, go, go! Shoo! Megatron requested Starscream's presence _hours_ ago and he's still here! Come on! Go!"

"Hours?" Starscream whined softly, sighing as his optics cast down and across. Thundercracker's belly was swollen, and he doubted it was from the rich fuel. He smiled. "TC, why didn't you tell anyone?"

The Seeker ran a fond servo over the bump and he chuckled. "Percy wanted me to be sure so we didn't give everyone false hope."

Perceptor scoffed and he swept the mechs into the War Room. Megatron and Nemesis were talking softly, casually but a little bit too casually...it made Starscream bristle and he plopped down into his designated seat next to Megatron. The warlord barely stirred from his conversation. In fact, he leaned away from Starscream, as if the mech was contagious. The Seeker stared at him, then glowered down at his belly that had begun to bulge slightly. He ghosted his claws over it, raising an optic ridge. Had Vector really sired this...?

Vos' adhesive optics watched him, then flitted up to lock with Starscream's. The Seeker went cold and his faceplates paled. The little mech gave a small nod, as if understanding that the secret be kept closer than Energon during a famine. He instead began to nibble delicately at Skywarp's claws.

Megatron finally surfaced from his talk with Nemesis and he swept his claws out, grinning. "Welcome! We've been waiting." He turned his gaze to Starscream and he smiled a little more. "Hello, pretty Seeker." He grazed his claws over his helm, purring. "I've missed you."

He smiled and leaned into his touch that was suddenly gone. He whined at the loss, but Megatron ignored him. He continued to talk.

"As you know, we've seen the end of the war. Orion is in his cell, steadily improving in his condition. For those of you who do not know, Orion was sick in the helm. We are getting him the care he needs."

"Why don't we just kill him?" Skywarp raised an optic ridge. "He has killed so many of us already." His claws covered Vos' audios. "Are we going to forget about Nymph?"

"The losses are regrettable, yes, but we cannot blame Orion. Can any of us find fault in him?"

All the helms nodded, but Megatron shook his helm. "No, we can't. He was sick, but now he is getting healed. You will all come around soon. As well as Orion, we have a Seer, which is why we are gathered here, not just for a status update. We found her in Vos the city." He smiled at Vos the mech, who lifted his helm at the sound of his name. When he found he was not being spoken to, he went back to nibbling at Skywarp's claws. The Seeker watched him absently. "She had been blinded with acid and she is missing many of her digits. I am telling you this because the first sight can be...shocking. Orion used her for many things, and one of them included her being his crystal ball. She tells the future with her deck of cards."

"How can she read cards if she is blinded?" Thundercracker frowned. Perceptor looked at him once, then at Megatron, his optics narrowing as he decided whether to believe the old mech or not.

"She knows. We do not know how she does it. All we know is that she does." He pressed a button on the table and the doors opened. Starscream brought his claws to his mouth when he saw the femme walk in, a guard on each side of her. What Megatron had said did not in any way prepare Starscream. The being in his tank gave a sharp twist and his holding tank filled with precious Energon gave a jolt and squeezed Energon into his mouth. He swallowed it again.

The acid stains ran from her empty sockets down to her mouth where it carved deep trenches, exposing the roots of denta in places. It looked like she was crying eternally. On one servo, she only had a thumb and a ring digit. On the other servo, she had another thumb, a pinky, and an index digit. She curled her few digits around a chair after a guard laid her servos on the back of it and they all watched her pull it back. The guards helped her sit. Starscream's optics gazed over her light blue armor speckled with darker blue and white from acid. She would have been pretty, except her face made Starscream feel like regurgitating and running. Vos reached for her. He was a little Seekerling, willing to cling to anyone. Her helm jerked towards his direction and Skywarp flinched, but Vos' reaching became insistent until Skywarp tucked him into his own chair on the other side of him, further away from the new femme.

"Seer," Megatron said gently. Her helm turned back toward him. "Do you have your cards?"

She flipped her wrists and in one servo appeared a heavy deck of metal cards. She nodded and set them facedown on the table. "What would you like to know?"

"The future."

Before he could finish, she had ran her only digits over the decks, flipping six cards out. They were faceup now. Starscream watched Thundercracker and Skywarp (the closest ones to her) lean forward and gaze down at the cards.

She lifted them and held them to her face. Her sockets widened and her voice grew deeper, as though she was adopting a much older voice...or the years that wore on her were suddenly dawning on her vocals. "The war has ended and peace will reign supreme. The Matrix will find its rightful place in a child of a god and a mortal Seeker. Cyberton will live long under its hold, and the Matrix will not return to Primus for a long time, triple the time of an ordinary Prime. The population will prosper and war will be forgotten." She laid five cards down and clung to the last one. "The Prime's mother, unchanged, will give one last miracle to Cybertron and the father will smile down from the skies."

Megatron leaned back in his chair and frowned a little, nodding. "Who will be this...Prime carrier?"

But she was busy rambling. "The skies will praise and the stars will scream." And then she threw the card down and got up. The guards watched her push the chair in and walk out the door, then they followed her out, glancing back at Megatron.

"Mm..."

Nemesis was in shock, staring down at the card. "I don't...understand. Am I not the true bearer of the Matrix?"

"You have lied to me, Nemesis. What did Primus say to you when he gave you the Matrix?"

The mech shook his helm in disbelief, then he gave a snort of laughter. "He said it was my destiny to carry it until the next successor came. Does that not mean that I am to carry it until Primus chooses another to take it?"

"No," Starscream whispered. He felt the creature in his belly give a twist. "The Matrix doesn't often go from Prime to Prime. Once the bearer dies, it goes back to Primus until it is sought out again unless the Prime dies and its immediate successor is, say, immediately next to the mech. Then the chest plates open up and the Matrix is revealed." Starscream got up, holding his stomach. "I feel sick..."

He walked by Nemesis, touching his mate's shoulder. Nemesis made a gasp and he turned to look.

His chest plates were open and the Matrix chirped. Megatron's optics narrowed. Starscream walked closer. The Matrix pinged. Starscream stared and touched his belly.

Megatron growled one command. "Starscream, meet me in my office. Now."


	3. Chapter 3

"When were you going to tell me?"

Starscream's helm was down. He had played this game with Megatron before, and he had survived. You kept your helm down. You accepted the blame he pinned to you. You accepted the punishment. And above all, you didn't complain or talk back. Asked questions were questions demanding answers.

"I don't know," Starscream whispered.

"How long have you been carrying?"

"A couple hours?"

"You look weeks pregnant." Megatron got up and touched the Seeker's belly. "I can feel the sparkling inside, squirming and moving. You have been pregnant for _weeks haven't you_?!" he roared as he reached out and pinched Starscream's audio, making the Seeker cry out.

"Yes, yes!" He sobbed and nodded. "I have been...I'm sorry."

Megatron shoved back and released his audio, snarling. "Who is the sire?" When Starscream shook his helm, he took a threatening step forward and the Seeker cried out.

"Vector!"

The mech hesitated, then snarled. "Don't play these games with me, whore. You're going to tell me right now or I'll-"

"Tailgate! It was Tailgate..." He lowered his helm, crying softly. He knew that Tailgate would cover his aft where it needed covering. He would even offer a place for him to stay, sanctuary tucked into his shared berthroom...

"You disgust me." Megatron drew back, looking him up and down. "After everything I've done, you turn your back on me and go frag a _marshmallow_?" Megatron sneered at Starscream's broken expression. "How desperate were you?"

Starscream shook his helm weakly, tears rolling down his cheeks, _plunk_ ing lightly on his belly and continuing their journey, rolling off his growing bump. "Very..."

The cold temperature of the room shifted. It felt warmer, and Starscream looked up at a sudden shine of light. He saw Vector behind the mech, two digits against each of the warlord's temples. The grey mech made a strange sound as he took a huge vent in.

"Go now. I will pretend this conversation never happened. I will offer you a place to stay, for now, but as soon as the child is able to fend for itself, I am leaving."

Starscream didn't know what Vector was doing, if those were Vector's words or Megatron's, but as soon as he saw Vector fading, he bolted out of his chair and ran down the halls to Tailgate to have a shoulder to cry on.

 **ooo**

"I'm glad you came here straight away," Tailgate said as he sat down on his chair, swinging his legs. Starscream sat on the berth across from him, his shoulders down, his wings down, his helm down...his claws curled lightly around a steaming cube of sweet Energon, but his tank felt ready purge. "But why would you say I sired it?"

"You were the first one I could think of," he confessed, looking away. "Would Cyclonus...?"

"Do the things Megatron did? No. Cyclonus can be a little jealous, but if he thought for a moment I was raped, I would get snuggled and kisses..." Tailgate trailed off, sighing. "It's hard to tell with mechs, especially mechs leaning towards the same sex. They tend to be more...aggressive."

Starscream snorted and looked down at the Energon. Perhaps he could handle a swallow...but first... "There's...another reason why I picked you, Tailgate."

The little white mech looked up, his blue visor flickering in confusion. "Is it because of my good looks?"

"Cyclonus calls you a marshmallow behind your back."

"That's my berth-name."

"That's disgusting. I didn't come here to hear about the dirty things Cyclonus calls you."

Tailgate laughed, then waved his servos for Starscream to continue, and the Seeker was reminded why he adored Tailgate so. Sure, he was a puny Autobot without a spinal strut, but he was...compassionate. He was very nice, very sweet...like a marshmallow.

"The baby..." Starscream rested a servo on his belly. "It probably won't look like Megatron. It will be almost white. Even if he did accept it, he would have known straight away it wasn't his own. I figured...since you were white, and the sire was white...well, who could know the difference save you and me?"

Tailgate nodded slowly, processing this information. "Who is the sire?"

"You'll think I'm crazy." Starscream got up and walked to the window.

"No, I think everyone's crazy in their own way...we're all mad here, Starscream. We just have to accept it."

Starscream sighed and he smiled a little at the sky. He told the story of how he went out to fix Vos' bear, how after that was dropped off, he went to Vector's temple. He was surprised that Tailgate didn't immediately jump in with questions, but when he finished and he looked at him, he saw that the littler mech was staring at him, completely absorbed in the tale...until...

"Was he big? Like, really big?"

Starscream laughed at him and he nodded. "Bigger than Megatron."

Tailgate and Starscream laughed until Cyclonus stepped into the doorway, holding an extra fluffy pillow and two fluffy blankets, reserved for the secondary berth for Starscream. The laughter died away and the purple mech tilted a helm. "No, keep up the giggling fit. Don't stop just because I've walked in..."

And at that, the giggling fit did continue, right up until the point where Cyclonus scooped Tailgate up with a fondly growled _marshmallow._

"Oh my Primus, _stop_ , Cyclonus!"

"It's past your bedtime," the mech purred. He kissed all over his face. Tailgate writhed in his grip, hissing playfully.

"I don't have a bedtime!"

But his cries were ignored. Cyclonus laid him down on their berth and he pressed him into his sheets with even more kisses, muffling his complaints. The white mech _humph_ ed and rolled onto his back, jerking the blankets up to his chin. Cyclonus chuckled and lowered his helm to press a kiss to his mask.

"I'm going to take Starscream out for iced Energon. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Nighty-night."

At the bar, Starscream was served a giant bowl of Energon sherbert. Starscream licked the dessert off the spoon and he watched Cyclonus watch him. "Why doesn't Tailgate like sherbert...?"

"It doesn't agree with his tank." Cyclonus smiled a little. "As of late..."

Starscream dropped his spoon. "Is _everyone_ going to expand like a balloon?!"

"As far as I know, Skywarp has been very careful around Vos...but I wouldn't be surprised if that caution falters. Vos is a delightful little mech." Cyclonus watched the Seeker. "I heard what happened between you and Megatron. I am sorry that the old warlord acts up like that sometimes. You must feel awful...and I heard that Tailgate is the sire. Naturally, I must disagree with that as Tailgate...lacks that portion of equipment."

Starscream blinked at him. "Tailgate doesn't have-"

Cyclonus raised a claw. "Not everyone needs to know." A smirk crossed over his mouth, lifting the corners of it into the widest grin Starscream ever saw on his faceplates. "But know I am okay with that cover. If he allows it, then so must I."

Starscream nodded, sighing as he twirled his spoon in his sherbert. "I don't know how it even happened..."

"Well, some mech took a fancy to you and put his-"

"No, I know how _that_ happened...I don't know how all..." He gestured around the room with his servos, " _this_ happened...I'm glad I got pregnant. It was what I wanted. Megatron has always said sparklings weren't the things to create in war...he doesn't want any."

Cyclonus grunted softly, sighing. "Starscream, I'm your friend...I would never keep anything from you. Megatron wants to have sparklings...he just didn't want to have them with _you._ "

Starscream's spark sunk. "What...?"

"That's what I believe. If he interfaced with you recklessly, there would be a trine of Seekerlings. Seekerlings are tricky. Thank Primus above that my little Tailgate is not a Seeker. Now, I have nothing against Seekerlings or Seekers, believe me...but Seekerlings are devils, and there's three devils for each pregnancy. No. Megatron didn't want to have three little sparklings to keep track of. Which is why he's being snuggly with Nemesis, because the mech interests him _and_ won't produce more than two sparklings..."

Starscream looked down at his sherbert, suddenly no longer interested in the frozen treat. He passed it over to Cyclonus, who gave it to a snuffling sparkling at the other table. "How sad it is," he whispered, "that mates are chosen because of how many babies they can make..."

"How true, though." Cyclonus got up. "Come along now. It's past your bedtime."

"Are you going to tuck me in with kisses and cuddles?"

Cyclonus smirked. "Only if you ask."

 **ooo**

Starscream let Cyclonus carry him to the berth from the doorway. He squealed and giggled as Cyclonus kissed his helm and forehelm and cheeks, laughed when the purple mech wrapped him in soft sheets and fluffy blankets. He smiled down at Cyclonus' servo as it rubbed over his swollen belly.

"Tailgate likes tummy rubs..."

Starscream felt tears prick at his optics. Megatron should be rubbing his tummy, not Cyclonus. "Thank you."

"For being a friend? All part of my job. Now, give Cyc a kiss."

Starscream sat up a little and kissed the purple mech's cheek. "Muah..."

"Good night, Starscream. Happy dreams..."

Before Starscream fell asleep, he felt a servo rub his belly. The servo felt familiar, warm and soft. He cracked an optic open and he saw Vector put a digit to his lips.

 _Shhh...almost time, beloved...almost time indeed..._


	4. Chapter 4

_3 days till birth..._

In the early morning hours, Starscream made his mind to visit Orion in his cell. The mech was not allowed to have visitors, but since Starscream was high on the power chain (Megatron, as he had promised through Vector Prime, didn't remove him completely) he was the exception...and Starscream didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing...

Orion smirked when he caught sight of Starscream. He laughed, getting off his berth and walking over to the bars. "Hey, Seeker. Looking good. Really. Megatron really knocked you up before he kicked you out."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Rumors travel fast here, Screamers." He tilted his helm. "Is my brother really a Prime now?"

"Temporarily." Starscream pulled up a chair, sighing as he settled into it. "Vector and I are making sure his days left in power are numbered."

"Vector?" He laughed. "Starscream, you really are insane, aren't you?"

"It's his sparkling."

Orion laughed even harder, shaking his helm. "No, Seeker..." He put his servos through the bars. "Come here. Come on. I may be crazy and strange, but I love sparklings as much as the next bot. Come on."

Starscream smiled a little and he hopped up, curling his claws around the bars as he leaned into them. Orion's servos rested on his belly, rubbing small circles on it.

"He's a big boy, this one." Orion chuckled, leaning his helm against the bars. His optics dimmed. "Mm...just one. Must be a super-big-boy Seekerling."

Starscream's claws fluttered down to his belly and he laughed softly, nodding. "Yeah...he's going to be a really big boy."

"How long have you been carrying?"

"A day now."

Orion scoffed. "Don't lie, Seeker."

"I'm not." He leaned forward. "I'm carrying Vector's sparkling."

The mech behind the bars smirked wider than he ever had before now. "Oooh, Seeker..." He chuckled and rocked back on his heels. "Well, when Lover Boy comes back, tell him I'd like a bit of his sweet aft. All they got here are femme drones, and not the pretty valkyries either."

"I'll let the chief down here know you want to get your aft pounded." Starscream reached through the bars and touched the mech's face.

Orion leaned into the touch, sighing softly. "What? No, no, I want to _pound_ an aft. I want to pound it through the floor. I want to pound it through every wall. You'd do that for me, won't you, Seeker?"

"Sure. Let me get the War Bringer anything he wants."

Orion winked at him, purring. "Slip the key to my cell in her valve, will ya?"

"Who said it would be femme?" Starscream called over his shoulder as he left.

Orion's optics widened. "IT BETTER NOT BE A MECH! STARSCREAM! YOU WOULDN'T DO THAT, WOULD YOU!? YOU WOULD! STARSCREAM!"

Starscream chuckled and he walked to the mech in charge, who bore scratches on every inch of his frame. He grunted as Starscream drew near.

"Get him a pretty young valkyrie, huh? Virgin and willing to learn a few tricks. But to really wind him up, please tell him every so often that it's a mech that's coming?"

The mech nodded, grunting as he keyed in the request. "Take care of yourself, Starscream."

"Will do. Thank you."

 **ooo**

Tailgate was stretched out across Cyclonus' lap as the purple mech buffed and waxed him. Starscream sat waiting his turn.

"You know," the white mech purred as he lifted his aft a fraction. Cyclonus' hot buffer returned to it. "I was thinking about a three-way-bond."

Cyclonus hummed lightly, his optics lifting to Starscream's. The Seeker looked away.

"Anyone interested?"

"That's a big step, Tailgate," Cyclonus whispered. "I don't think Starscream is ready to be in a relationship again so soon."

Starscream stared down at the floor. He wasn't willing to be in a relationship so soon...and besides. Vector was coming to mate with him, forever...right?

 **ooo**

The femmes in the MedBay, also pregnant, watched Starscream. They had gone for appointment after appointment on a regular basis, watching everyone's tummies grow and expand, watching some bellies jerk with kicks or hiccups and then laughter would pursue the actions...but here's Starscream, sitting on the other side of the room, watching the others watch him with dimmed and narrowed optics.

"Whore," someone coughed and the room ignited with laughter. Starscream's optics dimmed and lowered. His wings dropped as though they had been supported by strings from the ceiling that had just been cut. He pressed his claws to his belly and he let the first tear go, closely followed by a second, and a third...

The door _wshh_ ed open and someone plopped down beside Starscream, though several chairs were open by the femmes. Another plop signalled another bot. Starscream wiped at his tears with his knuckles.

"Such a long walk," a mech rumbled. "Can you believe it?"

The other bot purred. Femme. Starscream sniffled a little and dabbed at his optics again. "So long as I don't have to run my little aft down here when the baby comes."

Starscream dared a look at the femme. She was heavily carrying, her white tummy sitting contentedly in her lap like a fat Predacon. As Starscream stared, the belly jerked and she rubbed where she had been kicked with a grimace. Her optics were bright blue, her faceplates a lovely shimmering silver. She had blue spatters down her body. She was very pretty, but the femmes seemed repulsed by her.

"Hi, everybody!" She waved at the other femmes, and the same cougher coughed _whore_ again and the femmes giggled. "Yeah, you're just jealous."

"Jealous? You were raped and you pinned it on one of the Primes. You're _insane_."

"Oi," the mech growled. "Be nice...the war is over. Such harsh things have no place here."

"And _you_. Pregnant mechs are _unnatural_. Leave the breeding to the femmes."

The mech leaned back in his chair. He was just barely pregnant, but he must have been getting check-ups many times prior to this one. Starscream wondered if he was artificially inseminated, explaining his comfort in the chair and how the femmes responded to him.

"You're worried I'll take your spots." The mech chuckled as they bristled in their chairs. "Breeders," the mech laughed as he elbowed Starscream. "Once you get more than four in the room together, they think they're superior, but put a mech in the room with them and they're conflicted with whether they want respect or a good frag in the valve." When Starscream didn't respond, the mech sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You'll be okay. Don't let them get to you."

The femme suddenly reached out and touched his belly, purring. "Oh, such a pretty thing. I bet he'll look just like his mommy."

Starscream looked at them, then over at the six breeders who glared at them. He smiled a little back up to the mech. "I know a desperate mech who would frag all of them," he whispered.

The mech laughed, an explosive sound to Starscream's audios. The breeders shuffled deeper into their chairs. All helms lifted and turned when Ratchet stepped into the room.

"Alright. Enough of the squabbling. Starscream, come along."

"But we were here first!"

"Whore."

"This is so unfair!"

Ratchet shrugged a shoulder. "You breeders aren't carrying Vector's sparkling. I'm not worried about the average baby."

Starscream, once the door to the waiting room closed, threw his arms around the medic. Ratchet chuckled and awkwardly rubbed his back. "Good to see you, too..."

"They were so mean!" Starscream pulled away and let Ratchet lay him down on the medberth. The examination room wasn't that different than it had been during the war, only now there were less torture tools and the Energon spattered on the floor, walls, and, Primus forbid, the ceiling was cleaned up at last. The room was lined with cupboards and counters, little jars of swabs and cotton lining the counters. And, to top it all off, there were sparkling bottles of every size. Starscream's optics latched onto the tiniest bottle and he smiled.

"That's breeders for you." Ratchet smoothed his servos down his legs and peds, purring lightly. "They think they were called for something higher than all of us, but in reality, we just want them to get bred. We can't repopulate Cybertron with unwilling femmes. Too bad all the breeders think they're several steps above the Primes."

Starscream sighed and nodded, watching the ceiling. Ratchet spread the mech's legs open, humming as he worked.

"Thank you for coming down when I commed. I heard from the rumors that Megatron was peeved at you, and Tailgate told me that you were carrying Vector's sparkling and would need a check-up." Ratchet moved Starscream's legs, opening them wider. The Seeker lifted his helm to watch, curious now. "I'm sorry the breeders had to be there when you came. I'm such a busy mech now that they're here. Suddenly a kick isn't just a kick. It's the labor coming on a week early and their bodies are aborting the sparklings. And if I say it's nothing, I'm a false medic who doesn't know anything."

Starscream blushed as he felt digits ease into his valve and he begged his calipers not to tighten. He felt them ripple, contemplating closing. Ratchet chuckled.

"Any tenderness since you were fragged?"

"No."

"Any pain?"

"No."

Ratchet pushed his digits deeper, searching and probing. "Just looking for tears..." When he drew his digits back, they were coated thinly in Starscream's lubrication. The Seeker blushed and looked away. Ratchet wiped his digits on a rag. "So far so good, Starscream. But since you're so far along now, I think flying should be kept to a minimal and interfacing should be discontinued."

Starscream nodded and let the medic help him sit up.

"Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing. There's no tears, to tender spots, no pain. Your body is handling this sudden growth pretty well." Ratchet smiled down at Starscream's belly. He touched it lightly, purring. "I know you're probably tired of people just touching, but Starscream...it's been so long since the last sparkling was born. You have no idea how great this is."

Starscream hugged him again before he left, and this time when the breeder coughed at him, he whirled around and growled in her face. The mech and femme he had been sitting between laughed and cheered softly before they were called back together, leaving the breeders to wait even longer.

Starscream smirked as he left. The creation in his belly paddled its pedes and the Seeker could picture the sparkling laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

_2 days till birth..._

Starscream stretched out in the tub, sloshing water around. His belly rose up like an island in an ocean in the tub. Cyclonus rubbed it lightly, purring softly. Tailgate was air drying on a heating pad, his own bump growing.

"Cy _clonus_!"

"Hush, Tailgate," Cyclonus murmured absently. "Continue drying."

"My feet _hurt_."

"I will be there in a moment, beloved." Cyclonus rubbed Starscream clean, then helped him out of the tub. "I'm going to take Tailgate out on a date tonight. Can you handle yourself alone?"

Starscream nodded and smiled, letting the purple mech pat him dry.

"How fortunate," the mech sighed when he finished, "that I am chosen to care for a god's mate and child."

The Seeker sighed and looked away. "Do you think Vector really loves me?"

"I do. And I think he loves this child, and I think he loves you more than anything this world can offer."

Starscream smiled and looked down at his belly. "I hope he comes back. I feel lost when he's not around..."

Cyclonus hugged him as he got up, purring. "I'm sure he's not far out of reach."

 **ooo**

Starscream was approaching sleep fast. Cyclonus and Tailgate had left and the sparkling in his belly was still. The Seeker began to think, wondering absently about what Megatron was doing, how Nemesis was doing...what was happening on that warship? Did his brothers miss him? Did their mates miss him? Did-

A digit crept up Starscream's back, nestling between his wings and circling there for a brief moment before a little hum filled his audio. "Sleeping, are we?"

"Vector," Starscream purred as he rolled over. The mech was back, in a smaller form like he had been when they first encountered. The white mech with almost-clear blue optics smiled down at him and let the Seeker throw his arms around him. "I knew you'd come."

"You shouldn't doubt a Prime," Vector chuckled. "We always come through."

"I won't anymore. Promise." He nuzzled into him, sighing. He had wanted this. Hugging and being close to Cyclonus felt like he was stealing him from Tailgate. He and Cyclonus had been a thing, momentarily during the Academy. It had been fun, but he and Cyclonus were too different to be together, and their relationship drifted further and further apart before...snapping, almost soundlessly, like thread pulled too tight.

"Is there anything my pretty bird wants to do before I ban him to the berth for the rest of his pregnancy?"

"My things are in Megatron's quarters," Starscream remembered. He had wanted to take Cyclonus with him in case Megatron was stalking the halls of the _Nemesis_ , growling and eager to bite some helms off of shoulders. And he just really wanted to see his brothers and their mates...

"And you want to slip in, nab your things, and hurry back? And you need an escort? Come on then."

Cyclonus and Tailgate's quarters were on one end of the _Nemesis_ and Megatron's was on the other. So the walk to that far end of the ship allowed for some conversation, mostly about what Primus looked like and what his siblings did.

"Solus generally keeps to herself, save when Onyx comes around. Then they disappear together."

"Do you all frag each other? Doesn't that seem weird, when you look down and see that you're fragging a sibling?"

"We're not technically siblings. We were tested by Alchemist one time-"

"I'm surprised."

"-and he found out that we had different CNA, but we all came from Primus. So we are siblings, but not so. It is...hard to explain. I do not possess the words to describe..."

Starscream cuddled into Vector. "Some day, you'll have the words and the time to tell me. Won't you?"

"Of course."

The Seeker stopped at the sound of a familiar voice. Skywarp. He turned his helm and smiled when he saw Skywarp, his servo closed gently around Vos' as he talked, the littler mech jumping over the lines in the floor.

Skywarp continued to talk until he saw Starscream watching. "Starscream! Nice tummy. Need to hit the gym a little harder."

The Seeker brothers met halfway. Vector and Vos regarded each other briefly before the Prime knelt and lifted the littler mech, holding him on his hip. Vos squealed in delight.

"You're looking kind of pudgy yourself," Starscream playfully snapped, jabbing his brother in the gut. It was only partially true. His belly was extending outwards, but not enough so that it was a pregnancy. A lapse in self-control at Swerve's bar was most likely.

"Yeah, I know. High Grade is fattening. And since Vos has little to no standards, it's hard to not indulge."

Starscream raised an optic ridge. Where was the Skywarp that worked out a little longer than his brothers just to show off to the femmes?

"So what are you doing?"

"Going to get my stuff," Starscream sighed, leaning into Vector. The sparkling was kicking frantically and his helm spun suddenly. He worried he would give his brother a repaint, one reeking of purge. "Is Megatron around?"

"Nah. Went to check out the sparklings that were born today. Two of them. I don't know where Nemesis is, though. Haven't seen him all day. But he's probably glued to Megatron. They've been as stuck together as Energon candy in the sun. Tape and glue couldn't get them closer together than they are now."

Starscream's wings dropped. Was he so easily replaced? Of course he was. Who did he think he was?

Vector broke the sudden silence. "Perhaps I should walk with Vos and Skywarp? I have some rather urgent questions on Seekers and Seekerlings and I would rather keep my findings to surprise you." Vector turned his attention to his mate and he smiled.

"Sure. Knock yourself out." Starscream laid a clawed servo on his belly. "Just be back when I comm."

"And not a moment later." Vector gave his cheek a kiss and he smiled, purring as he carried Vos down the hall, Skywarp pressing forward to keep up.

Megatron's quarters were dark, as they always were, a purple glow in the room that Starscream appreciated and couldn't figure out how it existed. On the walls were drawings, poems, maps of Cybertron and of Kaon, pins and tacks pressed into specific areas. A large, wrap-around couch sprawled across one room under long purple curtains, draped beautifully down the couch to envelope whoever sat there to ensure privacy. Starscream couldn't count how many times he and Megatron interfaced there while a drone talked to the curtains, probably uncomfortably.

Sat squarely in the room was a pile of boxes, Starscream's name scrawled on each and every one. He sighed.

A rustle from Megatron's berth (positioned at the top of five lowly-set stairs and shrouded by more curtains) made him turn his helm around. Nemesis was there, draped in purple fabric, his belly rounded perfectly in the tiniest of sparkling bumps. Starscream's wings grew hot in anger and he looked away.

"Looks like the warlord's whore is back." He walked down the stairs, grunting when he got to the bottom. "We packed your stuff. Something glass and important-looking broke as we threw it in, but I'm sure it'll be okay. Probably look better than before."

Starscream didn't have anything of glass. Ceramic, maybe, but that was on a shelf in Cyclonus' quarters. Nemesis was just egging him on, waiting for a fight.

But the Seeker squatted and opened the top box, smiling softly down at the possessions he had left behind: An album of pictures, a datapad, his first crown... Nemesis, angered that the Seeker wasn't provoked into a fight, grabbed the Seeker's wings and drug him over the berth. The Seeker wailed and snarled, trying to twist out of his grip before he was thrown onto the berth and pinned there. Nemesis growled in his face.

"Came back here all alone? Bad choice. I thought you would come here with an escort. If that had happened, I wouldn't have made myself known, but you're even stupider than you look."

The Seeker bit his shoulder, but the mech had a high pain tolerance. Starscream knew this from when he fought beside the mech. He had been shot in the gut and only grunted before ripping off the helm of the one that shot him. Pain made him angry.

As if to confirm that, Nemesis slapped Starscream so hard, he thought his spinal column snapped. Instead, he was just left to gasp and whimper, his spark hammering so fast in his chest. He started to cry.

"Where's your pretty-boy Prime now, huh? Oh, wait...he doesn't exist." Nemesis flicked out a blade from his wrist armor and was about to cut open the Seeker's neck when he went suddenly rigid, gold bands of light flickering around him. Behind him stood Vector, his optics narrowed.

"Get off my mate," he growled, and he flicked his wrist. The mech went flying, crashing into the nearest wall and falling still to the ground. Starscream laid on the berth until Vector retrieved him. "Come along. Nemesis is just knocked out. I don't think he will be very happy when he wakes."

Before he left, Vector scooped up the boxes in his other arm and he carried Starscream back to Cyclonus and Tailgate, saying very little before disappearing, leaving his mate with his friends.


End file.
